Middleborough man indicted on motor vehicle homicide charge

Monday

Aug 11, 2014 at 7:14 PMAug 11, 2014 at 7:33 PM

A Middleborough man charged with striking and killing a wheelchair-bound Onset man with his truck in May was indicted last week by a Plymouth County Grand Jury on a charge of motor vehicle homicide OUI-liquor and/or .08 or above and/or OUI influence of drugs.

BROCKTON – A Middleborough man charged with striking and killing a wheelchair-bound Onset man with his truck in May was indicted last week by a Plymouth County Grand Jury on a charge of motor vehicle homicide OUI-liquor and/or .08 or above and/or OUI influence of drugs.

John F. Vandeusen, 28, who grew up in both Wareham and Middleborough, told police he left Stevie B’s sports bar in Onset around 1 a.m. Saturday, May 24, when he hit Joshua Macro, 24.

Macro and his roommate Ryan Santos were traveling in the bike lane against traffic along Onset Avenue when they noticed the truck coming toward them. Santos managed to get out of the way, but was unable to grab his wheelchair-bound friend, according to reports.

The wheelchair was split in two and Macro was thrown into the woods, according to reports.

In an interview with the Courier, Santos said Vandeusen “started breaking down,” and crying when Santos told him that he’d hit his friend.

Vandeusen tried to help him find Macro and they eventually found him unresponsive, lying on his back, prosecutors said.

Macro of 11 Ninth St., was taken to Tobey Hospital in Wareham, where he was pronounced dead.

According to court records, Vandeusen performed two sobriety tests at the site of the accident, reading the alphabet, and walking a line nine steps, heel to toe. He was less successful with the fingertip-to-nose test, starting with the wrong hand and missing a clean touch twice. He was given a preliminary breath test at the site and registered a .207, according to court records.

The defendant told police he had three to four beers that night. Surveillance footage from the bar showed Vandeusen drinking beer and taking one shot of what appeared to be liquor, prosecutors said.

Vandeusen later took two chemical blood tests while in police custody and registered .178 and .179, respectively, according to police reports.